It’s my last hours in Tokyo and all I want to do is to sit here in the hotel bar in front of these windows and the breathtaking view of the city.

Today, it rained. There was so much wind and giant clouds weaved in between the grey and silver towers right in front of me. I could spend hours here trying to capture just what how this trip to Tokyo has changed me.

Getting to work somewhere unknown is the best way to enter directly into the heart of a city. Of course, when you have a production team with you, it takes some of the Lost in Translation effect out, but you get the chance to live some incredible moments…

Karaoke. I got the chance to do some karaoke with some real Tokyoites and I’m still recovering. Picture this:
First of all, in Japan, karaoke is only done in a private lounge. You can reserve the room for one hour, two hours, or all night long. When you get there, you gotta make sure to get the all you can drink option.

(I, of course, had saké like any self-respecting westerner, but my Japanese friends preferred beer and whisky sodas.)

As soon as the door to your private room closes, which is more like a closet, (and it REEKS of cigarettes – you can still smoke inside in Japan, just not outside on the street, where you have to find designated smoking areas), my Japanese friends chose their songs and begin to turn their mics up and up and up (the sound in these places is just terrible. You have to literally scream to hear anything – which is the idea I guess, to just let it all hang out!).

After the second Japanese song, I decided to put on something that my team and I could sing together. Madonna, Like a Virgin.

Crooning into the mic, dancing total booty style, jumping on the table, on the couch, people yelling into my ears to bottoms-up my saké (very persuasive), and at the end of two hours, I’m drunk as can be and couldn’t be happier.

Kana, my producer says to me, “now you know how the Japanese deal with the pressure of their long work days.”

Private. Leaving karaoke Friday night, totally drunk and lost in a sea of people and light in Shibuya, I ask my friend if all karaoke is private… “Aren’t there public places for it too?” Response: “Seriously? NO WAY. We’d NEVER sing in public!”

Food: “I’m not so into Japanese food. Sushi doesn’t really do it for me and seaweed is for fishies.” That was me before arriving in Tokyo.
The first days, I had to force myself a little bit. The slimy textures, the bitterness, soup soup soup all the time, blah. And then I started to love it.

I only ate sushi once. Japanese food is so much more than that. Anyone know a good Japanese place in New York?

Sushi: You have to put it all in your mouth at once. And dip it in the soy sauce on the fish side. yeah. Try it next time. It’s no easy task.

Shopping

1/ The Japanese and I do not have the same taste. Fashion is very ”little girl” even if you’re older. Femininity definitely doesn’t mean the same thing, but I didn’t get the chance to explore the whole thing enough to offer one of my legendary psychological break downs (awww shucks!). So shopping style wasn’t a point of commonality.

2/ The Japanese don’t have the same body as me. The only time I could find something in my size was to shop in the mens’ department. Size 9 shoes? Not so much.

3/ Japanese men have the same taste as I do. Right now, they like American casual, surf and hiking clothes, oh man it’s on everyone in Tokyo right now… And the “Americana” trend with jeans, plaid shirts, worn-in look. The interpretation of American style is really impressive, pushed to such a perfection that I really had a hard time not bringing back “California Dreamin’” t-shirts from Beams or United Arrows.

Words. My dear readers, it is not without a touch of pride that I confess my innate talent for languages. Drop me off any ol’ place, gimmie a couple days and I’ll be talking with the locals. Four days in and I’ll have them laughing (which is my ultimate goal in life).

Yeah yeah yeah, but not in Japan. My amazing brain is perfectly impenetrable to Japanese, which means that this list of words I’m bringing back for you is going to be deliciously short.

Sumimassen: Please. You have to drag out the last syllable and yell it out when you’re at a restaurant. Sumimasseeeeeeeeeeeeen! (memorization technique invented by my team: sue me my son. Yep. That’s it. It works.)Arigato: Thank you. Derived from the Portugese (nooooo, they invaded like, seriously!!!) Obrigado.Sayonara: Goodbye.
And that’s it. Oh wait no, I forgot one… Saké.

Too big. A lot of Japanese wear their shoes a size or two too big, flip flop to death in Japan. It makes sense because you take your shoes off every two minutes (no shoes in the apartment, how dare you?!)

François Hollande: François Hollande is the big winner of the first round of the French presidential election and in the Japan Times, he’s on the front page, right on the bottom.

Cleanliness: Everything is extremely clean in Japan, from the streets to the fish market to the toilets to the subway stations to the taxis to the… That said, it’s almost impossible to find a garbage can to toss your to-go cup of coffee in the street. C’mon, these people are genius!

Traditional: The kimono is still worn for special occasion, like for birthdays in your 20s or traditional weddings – in the picture this teenager is on her way to celebrate her sister’s 20th birthday. It’s very expensive, so there are a lot of places that rent them and get you all dolled up. So beautiful.

Beauty. Beauty is everywhere. Beauty is something that’s really important in Japan and is taken very seriously. Beauty has many dimensions and I’m not talking about physical beauty. There are many other beauties.
Like the beauty of a gesture.
The beauty of the seasons. The love that the Japanese have a cherry-blossom season that is not only about the beauty of a tree. The beauty of Sakuras lies in the strength of their bloom (the tree blooms a million flowers all it once) balanced with their fragility (the flowers disappear within a few days).
The beauty of intention. My calligraphy lesson taught me something incredibly important and that I hope to use in my work. Ten-You taught me to trace a simple line and I tried to do it right and fast, as a good pupil should. She told me it wasn’t right, that what I had to do was put my spirit behind it. Drawing a line became an entirely new experience…

And perfect beauty lies in imperfection. That’s what I got from the concept of wabi sabi, which is difficult to define, but it finds beauty in impermanence, in imperfection, in the passing of time, in simplicity. It’s easiest to see in Japanese pottery – just sublime – which gets its beauty as hot water does its work of slowly cracking it, for example.

If only this wisdom could find its way into our daily lives more often we’d spend less time chasing after some tragic idea that perfection exists and that its the key to all happiness…
(Of course, not all Japanese are walking wise men living wabi sabi – they love plastic surgery too, even if their criteria of beauty is different than ours…)

Boys: So many sexy Japanese men. Now, I’m very happy with my sexy American man (I doubt that Scott has made it this far in the article, but hey, just in case. Ha!) but in case you single ladies out there are asking, I thought I’d tell you.

Wapanese: With all this fantasticness, you can quickly become a Japanophile, you know, a Japanese wanabe. There are so many foreigners who have developed quite the taste for Japan, learning the language, knowing the traditions by heart, falling in love with a Japanese person, finding everything is better here, more refined, everything is more beautiful, more harmonious, everything is just more sound here, for body and mind… As if the Japanese have found the key for eternal happiness.

The Japanese, who are no fools (Japan is a country like all the others, with its societal problems, its Michelle Bachmans, its economic crises and we’re not even getting started on earthquakes…), make fun of all that and call it Wapanese.

Still, I want to come back as soon as possible. With Scott. Go to Kyoto. Go back and eat grilled fish in Asasyoku. Buy some silly souvenirs at Kiddy Land. Gain five pounds, even though I thought I’d be coming home skinnier. Sing like an idiot at karaoke – every single night if possible. Wake up at 5 am. Learn a new word and then forget it five seconds later. Communicate with hand signals with all the people I meet in the streets. Live Tokyo.

PS: My Pardon My French with Dior will be here soon! You’ll see all this soon on video. Even my super drunk karaoke-ing? Yes, even that!

Love you photo!!
That is what I do admire about the Japenese culture their respect for beauty in all the dimensions, their culture so unique. So who decides what constitutes beauty & great style? http://stylefig.com/blog/

It’s fusion, but I really enjoyed Wasan http://wasan-ny.com/ and Tori shin, a yakitori restaurant on the ues.

I’ve loved reading your posts on Tokyo, it’s so much fun to get another perspective of the city that I’ve called home for the last 2.5 years, though I can’t say my lifestyle is as glamourous as yours ;)

I am an American who has lived in Tokyo for the past 10 years, and who has followed your blog for the last two or three. I wish I could have seen you in action here. I respect your point of view, especially as it reminds me of those ‘foreigners’ who are of open mind when they come here. Your photos are always beautiful, and I hope that you have the chance to come again soon– Tokyo is an onion– each layer is in sharper focus than the last, and just as beautiful.

I loved your post, we can feel Japanese culture and have an idea to experience another culture how can make changes in our lifes. Sometimes I feel that we should escape and experience another culture and find solutions to our problems..

For the sushi in New York, I highly recommend Bond Sushi in Soho, you might now this place.

I’m a Japanophile, as you said ;-) but still leaving in the West of the World with a Western Boyfriend. Still, Japan is so deep in my heart.

One thing that I hate, with much arrogance of course (but many Japanophiles are like me :p), is when tourists and people who don’t know anything about Japan talk about it as they know EVERYTHING.

But you, just a week over there and you make me almost cry with your words: I almost feel like I’m there again, it seems like you managed to feel that Country and you’re passing this feeling to us. Thank you!

I can’t wait to see your video, really! I hope it’ll be here soon!

Kisses

Al

PS: I don’t like sushi either but I’m a big lover of Japanese food (I often cook it at home too, Japanese home-cooking recipes are the best!) so I can suggest you a few genuine places, not in NY because I’ve never been there, but in London and Paris (maybe you can go next fashion week?):

Paris:
- Kunitoraya, Rue Saint Anne 39 (in this street you find also markets and the Japanese café/patisserie, but I bet you know)

Fabulous post. I truly believe we live in the moment when we’re travelling or experiencing something new and different. I’ll be in Paris for four weeks this summer (sans chien) and look forward to the same kind of experiences that only occur when you have the time to really immerse yourself into a place and culture.

I too, love to leave and become a part of a city, in the states, or outside of the states and I forget that I have a life some where else…
I could in fact stay in these places for a very long time…
It looks like you have done that….

Sushi of Gari, on the Upper East Side, http://www.sushiofgari.com/ is stunning sushi. A bit spendy, but very very good. There’s a ramen place, Sapporo, over near Times Square that used to be like a piece of Japan lifted up and plunked down in New York, but they’ve since changed the interior decor a bit, and it’s a little more westernized now, but still very authentic Japanese “fast food”. http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/Sapporo/

I wade through the tourists and rap CD hustlers in Times Square every time I visit just for a bowl of the miso ramen.

I visited Tokyo for the first time last fall and completely fell in love with it. So beautiful, so organized. And yes, I was also pleasantly surprised that there really were sooo many well-dressed hot Japanese guys. My favorite restaurant in New York is Takashi. It really is amazing! (some photos and a review here.)

I was just in Japan for the Sakura. It was gorgeous. I love how the Japanese put so much effort and beauty in the simplest things- from giving precise directions to a non-native speaker (ie me) so that I’d get to my destination, to taking lessons on how to wear the kimono (my Japanese friends).

I adore the supermarkets and convenience stores in Japan. The packaging, the ideas – such a feast for the senses.

Did you know that almost all rice you eat in Japan is grown in Japan? I was wondering why the rice tasted different before I found out.

There is a really fantastic Japanese tea house called Cha-an on 9th between 2nd and 3rd avenue (where there’s a whole slew of other Japanese restaurants too). It’s super small and cozy with an incredible and authentic atmosphere. Cha-an has an incredible menu of teas and dessert, but their dinner set is so amazing! I go there for dinner all the time, even if most people go for just tea and dessert. Check out their website to see if you’d like to go!

Garance-san… It’s so fun to hear you describe the culture I grew up in. When I was little I didn’t appreciate it so much, I wanted to be more ‘American’ like my new friends were – it was only later did I start enjoying all the little lessons my early years were steeped in. xxo, n

Garance I love this post! I’m from Tokyo and I love love love it and I’m super happy that you love it too! I’m looking really forward to your video, because it turns out one of my best friends whos a model will be in it. I’ve been a reader of your blog for ages, and I was so happy when I found out about the coincidence :) Have a safe trip back to NYC! ?

I had a similar experience during my first trip to Japan too. Did you use the subway? Gosh that’s an experience from the future! After I got home to New York from Tokyo I had to find Japanese BBQ immediately so check out Gyu Kaku (You will love!!!). There’s one on the lower east side (Cooper Square) and another in midtown.

I have a little bit of Japan fever after reading a few Murakami books! The man is a genius and gives such a cool view of modern day Japan (although the books I’ve read are set in the 80s). And anybody who loves modern architecture and art is a big fan of Japanese design!

I’m a designer for an athletic brand here in the US and recently spent a month and a half in Tokyo on a design exchange product with our team there.

It was great to read your post! Everything you said is dead on with how I felt! The women’s style was just to young for me but I loved the men’s clothing. I also wear a size 9 and was repeatedly told (very politely) that there was nothing in my size (even in the men’s dept).

Also, I was totally expecting to lose weight there too but everything is so delicious it was just not possible!

I must say..truly thank you Garance!During the last week you have been able to take me in Japan with you, well I’ve been working in my office as usual but with my mind and thanks to your posts I was in Tokyo…nice work!

Hi Garance,
I just came back from Japan too last month and after reading your blog i had a flashback about my trip. It ALL true what you said, so easily to fall in love with many things in Japan. People there are very helpful and polite. Japanese women somehow has nature elegance in gesture and etiquette, so insipiring.. But you forgot to mention one thing, Japanese desserts are amazing! :D

If you want the best authentic Japanese food in NYC, you must go to Sakagura (211 East 43rd Street, between 2nd and 3rd Aves.). It’s in the basement of a very ugly midtown office building and is such a hidden gem.

Hi Garance! I was in Japan for the first time at the end of March, and I totally agree with you. It is an enchanting place that I find myself thinking about all the time. The cleanliness. beauty, and friendliness totally sucks you in. I really enjoyed reading your recap…and will definitely have to try karaoke next time (:

I’m French, grew up in America, but love my Japanese boys and more specifically, love the Japanese man I’m with now. I speak Japanese and have always loved everything Japan so it was only natural for me to end up with one of their men (who are indeed, very sexy!). Now I just need to teach him all about French culture.

Japan is very beautiful but I’m happy that you mention the Wapanese thing. It’s important to know that every country is beautiful and every country has it’s flaws, just like people. But understanding the flaws can make the beauty all the more beautiful.

Amazing photos, amazing text! I almost could see Japan through your words.
My grandpas are japanese, but I am brazilian. And I never had the chance to go there even though my mother and my uncle already lived in Nagoya.
It is my dream now! Get to know a piece of my history.
Beautiful!

I went to Tokyo last summer and it was a great trip=]
The reason you couldn’t find a garbage can is because they usually keep the garbage until they get to a store such as 7-11. And be ware of the japanese restaurants in NY because most of them are not owned by Japanese but Chinese (i’m not racism, I am a Chinese.) Moreover, the good japanese restaurants in NY are usually expensive.

So glad you enjoyed the trip! My last Japan trip was truly transformational… They just got it (on so many levels) aesthetically, in everything – texture, color, food.
For good Japanese food in NY (an I am big fan) try…

Sakagura (a bit “proper” for me, but the food is amazing)
Soba Totto (if you are in the mood for pub food and beer/sake)
I am also a fan of ChAn (more of a tea house – go for tea and desert)
Minka (perfect udons and gioza)
I simply love Japanese people’s cooking (whether they cook Japanese or not), so Basta Pasta is one of my favorite Japanese-owned Italian(!) spots

Garance, this was just marvelous to read! Very interesting to know your impression of this country, really, and funny too. Beautiful, beautiful and I look foreward to see the video!!
Thanks for sharing!
Besos
Patricia

thank you Garance. thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.
your discriptions were so beautiful that i got tears in my eyes.
thank you for sharing your experience, a very unique and special one, an experience that i will probably never going to have.
all i can do is dream about what i see and hear from someone who went to Japan or through books. and you made that possible!

Great photos! Have you tried Izakaya there? It’s Japanese tapas & it helps if a Japanese person does the ordering. Too bad you don’t like sushi……one of my favorite foods. Looking forward to the new “excuse my French” video.

like hatsuhana sushi on e48th btw 5th and mad… try it for dinner, not lunch
if you are downtown – soto on 6th ave, best uni
yasuda on 43rd is pretty good too
agree on sushi of geri upper east (ambience – not great, but food is great)
… would not recomend masa

Garance, I looooooooooooved this post! I lived in Tokyo for a year and you are spot-on: beauty everywhere, the difficulties of finding clothes that fit you if you are European and not super skinny, Japanese people getting wild at night…
In New York you should try eating at Morimoto in The Meatpacking District http://morimotonyc.com/ I’m very picky with Japanese food and I assure you this one is great!

Great reportage! I have been there also and have felt many of the same feelings. I love Japan and the Japanese people and their culture. I wanna go back! Btw, did you have conveyor belt sushi? Loved the whole idea of that.

i like hatsuhana on e48th btw 5th and mad…try it for dinner not for lunch
if you are downtown – soto on 6th ave – best uni
yusuda on e43rd is pretty good too
sushi of gari (ues) – food is great i agree… ambience could be better. like sushi seki on 1st ave better if in that area.
masa- overrated, sushi is not bad of course, but if you are not going- you are not missing anything

Reading your post it reminded me of my time spent in Japan and in Tokyo too, I love that place, and all the social etiquette that reigns supreme. The ancient traditions mixed with the modern world of technology, and spunky youth culture. Its like a game show and you are the lucky contestant. I can’t wait for the video! Sumimasen, nihongo wakaru?

L’ambiance, l’esprit, la beauté… tout est dit et me replonge dans le voyage que j’ai fait au Japon il y a 4 ans. I love this old country full of history and so young at the same time, easy to leave but… very strict! Thank you Garance.

I love this post – I’m Korean and I often find that Korean and Japanese cultures are similar, but also very different – like the calligraphy? I’ve never been to Japan but I’d really like to go, after this and maybe try some ‘spirit behind the line’…

Amazing sushi place called Garinosushi (or Sushi of Gari, as their website is called http://www.sushiofgari.com/)
I lived in Japan for two years and ate a lot of sushi and this place was phenomenal. Have fun!!

I’m so delighted that you enjoyed your time in Japan. If you’re still looking for a hint of Japanese flavor in New York I highly recommend Aburiya Kinnosuke, Robotoya, Yakitori Tori Shin (especially if adventurous enough to go for chicken sashimi), and Yakitori Totto. If you’re looking for the most charming place to enjoy Japanese sake, then Angel’s Share is hard to beat (though shh, it’s a secret!).

Aw, this was a very nice post. In concept I want to put in writing like this moreover – taking time and precise effort to make a very good article… however what can I say… I procrastinate alot and by no means appear to get one thing done.

I lived in Japan, and worked with Japanese film crews in NYC for years, so am a total Japanese food snob. I recommend:
Yakitori Shin–best, most authentic Yakitori. Call or use open table to reserve and sit at the bar. Drink beer and sake and order many delicious skewers of chicken, vegetables etc.

Another #1 favorite is Donguri on the upper east side. Super authentic. Tiny so you need to book, but arguably one of the best in NYC

On East 9th street, try Robotaya. Sit at the wide bar and look at the assortment of whole fish and vegetables. You order and the chefs jump up on the counter to grab what you asked for, and then they grill it on the spot.

Hi, Garance
I love your blog and really enjoyed your posts in Tokyo. I’m Japanese.
Your explanation and interpretation of things in Japan and of it’s culture are spot-on. Never seen anyone understand and explain wabi sabi so well in such short period and you have been here only once yet. Amazing.
You are right about karaoke. We go crazy and have fun with friends in private and behave in public, haha. I remember my mum used to tell me as a kid, “You should behave. Don’t cause trouble to others. Don’t bother them.”
Fashion size, it’s always troublesome. I’m 9-11 in Japanese size. Same (or should I say opposite,) thing happened to me in England when I was a teenager. I spent a month there and tried to find a pair of short pants but couldn’t. I didn’t even try them on coz apparently they were too big for me. I could imagine them sliding down my thighs if I walked in them. So I spent a whole unusually hot month in full-length pants. My Norwegian friend once called my butt “invisible.” And still in Japan, I find some pants are too tight for me. Seriously?!
Next time, come to Western Japan. Kyoto, Kobe, Nara, Hiroshima etc, a lot to explore!

I am from Tokyo (now living outside it.) and have truly enjoyed your posts on the city which I love the most and feel at home.
I always find it interesting when foreigners are curious about something which the Japanese, like me, never give special attention to. It kind of help me discover my own culture again, inspiring a lot in a way.
Oh, we have not only Cute fasions but also Chic ones, I must tell you :). Tokyo has several “fashion” districts which people are dressed in a diffrent way area by area so if you like cuty fashion you would tend to go to Harajyuku but you will find many ladies in sort of “grown-up” fashion in Aoyama, Ginza and Marunouchi, I am sure.
Hope you and your readers will visit Japan (again) and experience its great charm…
..

I’ve been in Japan for 7 times and loooove it there!! This blog writes completely my feelings and thoughts about Japan!!! It’s lovely written! Thanks so much!!! Is there some possible way to see all your pictures you took there? I bet they’re lovely too!